Flip-top head for dry shaver



Nov, 1, 1966 ,J DE H ETAL FLIP-TOP HEAD FOR DRY SHAVER Filed Dec. 23, 1963 15 FEGJ 8 FIG. lb

FIG.2

INVENTORS JAN DE HAAN BJUARD w TIETJEN BY AGENT United States Patent Office 3,28L93d Patented Nov. 1, 1966 3,281,936 FLIP-TOP HEAD FOR DRY SHAVER J an de Haan and Eduard Willem Tietjeus, Drachtcn, Netherlands, assignors to North American Philips Company,

Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 23, 1963, Ser. No. 332,453 Claims priority, applicatiorg qlTIether-lands, Jan. 22, 1963,

5s 8 Claims. (Cl. Fail-41.6)

The invention relates to a dry shaving apparatus and more particularly to a shaving head which is pivotally fastened and which includes at least one shear plate while the fiat lower edge of the shaving head engages the outer edge of the part of the housing supporting the shaving head.

The aforesaid arrangement has the advantage that the lower edge of the shaving head bearing on the edge of the opening in the housing does not leave a gap, so that it is not necessary for a hood to be applied after the shaving operation, for example a hood of a synthetic substance covering the openings of the shear plate, to extend over the whole shaving head and to engage the body of the housing. In order to permit the shaving head to open easily, for example by pushing a locking knob under the action of a torsional spring surrounding the pivotal shaft, the pivot might be arranged on the outer side of the lower edge of the head, but in this case open parts of the pivot would be visible and/or there would be formed a troublesome projecting rib of the pivot at the transition area between the head and the supporting part of the housing. 7

In order to ensure a gap-free connection it has been proposed to dispense with the pivot and to have the head grip around an outwardly projecting rim of the housing by an internal groove on one side beneath the contact area of the housing. When the resilient lock is disengaged by pushing a locking catch on the opposite side, the head can be displaced after a small pivotal movement and the rim can be disengaged. However, the lack of a pivot involves the omission of the advantage that the shaving head remains connected with the housing when it is desired to open the head, for example for cleaning the cutters and the hair chamber beneath the cutters. This is just the operation which must be facilitated for the user and to this end it is desirable that after pushing the locking catch the head should open without further means, while it must be possible to simply press the head home with one hand without the need for using the other hand for removing and resetting the head after cleaning.

The invention has for its main object to provide an advantageous solution satisfying the requirements of ease, satisfactory closure and flat transition between the head and the housing. It is characterized in that the rim of the shaving head is prolonged over the pivotal shaft up to the supporting housing and in that the pivotal shaft lying on the inner side relative to said rim is displa-ceable under spring pressure over a small distance in a direction at right angles to said shaft.

The said displaceability of the pivotal shaft relative to the head supporting rim of the housing permits of shifting the head, subsequent to the release of the lock, with the lower edge of the pivot over a given distance along the upper surface of the supporting rim, so that the head can be readily opened. Although in the closed position of the head said lower rim bears on the supporting rim beyond the pivotal shaft. However, with the known construction the head cannot be opened in this way without causing damage.

In a suitable embodiment the invention is applied to a dry shaving apparatus in which the pivot is supported by a wing accommodated in a cavity behind the supporting rim of the shaving head, so that mounting is facilitated. This construction is, however, particularly used for obtaining the possibility of removing the shaving head together with the pivot by arranging the said wing displaceably in the said cavity. With this construction the shaving head, which is pivotally fastened to the housing, may, if desired, be removed completely for thorough cleaning or revision or for replacing it for example by hair clippers.

The said embodiment of the invention for use with this construction is characterized in that the wing is held in the cavity by a spring which is resilient in the direction of displacement of the pivotal shaft, while the cavity permits the wing from moving over the stretch concerned under the action of a small force.

The invention will now be described with reference to a few embodiments shown diagrammatically in the drawing, while further particularities of the invention, which may be used advantageously, will be explained.

FIG. 1 is a shaving head with part of the housing of the shaving apparatus in a longitudinal sectional View taken along its longitudinal axis.

FIG. 1a is a detailed view of part of FIG. 3 drawn on an enlarged scale.

FIG. 1b is a perspective fragmentary view of the spring and lug arrangement shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 2 is a similar sectional view, the head being in the opened state and FIG. 3 is a similar sectional View as FIG. 1 for a different embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to the figures, reference numeral 2 designates the head pivotally arranged on the shaft 1. The embodiments relate to a so-called double shaving head having two adjacent loose, circular and hood-shaped shear plates projecting upwardly each through an opening of the head and bearing each with a flange on the lower side of the head on the circumferential rim of the opening. They are urged against this rim by a resiliently arranged, rotating cutter rim. FIG. 3 shows the projecting part of such a shear-plate 3; this part is not shown further since it is known and since it is not considered essential for a good understanding of the present invention. The pivotal head is provided with two adjacent openings for accommodating the shear-plates 3. It will be obvious that in the open state shown in FIG. 2 the chamber 4 underneath the cutters, where the cut hairs are collected, can be cleaned by blowing in the direction of the hairs. This is facilitated by the free position of the cutters when the head has been tilted up, so that the cutters can be readily removed.

The head 2, in this case, consists of a synthetic substance and the sectional view is taken along the center thereof. From the figures it is apparent that the shaving head 2 has edges 5 and 6 which bear on the outer rim 7 and 8 respectively of the housing part 9 supporting the shaving head. Thus any gap is avoided and on the outer side of the edge 5 of the shaving head extends over the pivotal shaft 1 and is prolonged to the peripheral surface of the outer rim 7 of the supporting part of the housing 9, so that on this side, as otherwise along the whole periphery, a smooth transition between the head and the outer surface of the housing 9 is obtained.

The pivotal shaft 1 is located on the inner side relative to the rim. In order to permit a ready tilting up of the shaving head about said pivotal shaft, although the edge 5 supporting on the outer rim 7 'would prevent this under normal conditions, the structure is such that the pivotal shaft 1 can be displaced under the action of the spring 10 over a small distance in a direction at right angles to the shaft 1. In this case the shaft 1 is pivoted to the right as seen in the FIGURE 2.

To this end the pivotal shaft is supported, and is known, by a wing stanchion 11 accommodated in the cavity 12 behind the housing wall 13, which terminates in the supporting outer rim 7. The spring 10 has the shape of a bracket and grips around a lug 14 provided on the wing 11 so that the transverse part or yoke of the spring 10 bears on the inclined upper surface of the lug 14. From FIG. 1 it can be seen that the lower end of the wing 11 bears in the corner 15 between the inner wall 16 of the cavity 12 and the bottom of the chamber 4. The wing 11 extends obliquely through the cavity 12 towards the pivotal shaft 1 and the spring 10, which is bent backwardly, is kept under stress and it tends to displace the pivotal shaft 1 together with the head 2 to the right in a horizontal direction. The pressure thus exerted is met on the opposite supporting rim 8 of the housing 9 by a shoulder 17 provided on the inner side of the shaving head 2.

This shoulder 17 forms a part of a projection 18 (FIG. 1a), which is held in the closed state by a bracket-shaped spring 19, snapping over the projection. The spring 19 may have the same shape as the spring 10, so that the number of required parts for the structure is reduced. The spring 19 bears on the end of a pressure knob 20 projecting through the housing wall. When this knob is depressed, the latching effect of spring 19 is released and the conventional, stressed torsional spring (not shown) surrounding the shaft 1 slightly lifts the head 2, so that the shoulder 17, under the pressure of the spring 10, snaps across the rim 8 and the head is shifted to the right over a distance such that the wing 11 abuts against the wall 16. The distance between the wing 11 and the wall is slightly larger than the width of the supporting outer rim 7 of the housing 9, so that the head is released from this supporting rim and is completely tilted upwardly under the action of the torsional spring. When the head is pressed down, it is at the same time slightly urged rearwardly at the end of the movement, so that the shoulder 17 snaps behind the rim 8 and the projection 18 snaps beneath the bracket spring 19. The bend of the spring 10 and its possibility of moving slightly downwards along the upper surface of the lug 14 (see also FIG. 2) permit an adequate upward movement of the pivotal shaft 1 for the edge to engage the edge 7 and to be resiliently held thereon. On the opposite side the head 2, in the closed state, is resiliently held by the bracket spring 19, the horizontal yoke of which tends to ascend under the spring force along the ascending upper surface of the projection 18.

In the detail view of FIG. la some details of the invention are shown, which are not illustrated in FIG. 1. The projection 18 falls between the two legs (one leg 27 only is shown) of the fork-shaped end of the knob 20. The legs 27 urge the spring 19 away when the knob 20 is depressed, but at the same time the oblique surface 28 of the knob abuts against the corresponding face 29 of the projection 18, so that the latter is urged upwardly, and the shoulder 17 of the projection cannot catch behind the rim 8. When the head 2 is pressed down, the oblique face 29 glides along the inner side of the rim 8, so that the head is shifted against the action of the spring over such a distance to the left that the shoulder 17 can snap behind the rim 8. The yoke of the spring 19 ascends the oblique face 30 of the projection 18 until it passes the point 31 and then abuts against the face 32 by its own spring force, so that the head 2 is drawn downwardly.

The operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 will be understood after the foregoing; corresponding parts are designated by the same reference numerals. In this case the wing 11 is displaceably held in a vertical direction on the housing wall 13 in a groove 21; it is held in its.lower position by a light spring 22, which is shown for the sake of simplicity to be secured by a screw 23 to the bottom of the chamber 4. The end of the spring 22 bears on an inwardly projecting flange 24 of the wing 11.

When, in this case, the projection 25 of the lock is released by pushing the spring 26 snapping around the projection away by means of the pressure knob 20, the torsional spring surrounding the shaft 1 tilts up the heads. The force of this torsional spring is so great that the head 2 can swing about the edge 5 while the pivotal shaft 1 with the wing 11 is slightly shifted upwardly against the action of the spring 22 and the edge 5 slides along the rim 7 to the interior.

In the two embodiments the wing is held in the cavity or recess by a spring (10, 22) which is resilient in the direction of displacement of the pivotal shaft, either horizontally or vertically while in FIGS. 1 and 2 the cavity 12 permits the wing 11 to move over the said distance under the action of a slight force, furnished either by the spring 10 or by the torsional spring surrounding the pivotal shaft. It will furthermore be obvious that the two embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 3 are chosen so that the shaving head with the pivot can, if desired, be completely removed by slipping the wing 11 in an upward direction completely out of the cavity 12.

While we have shown and described the preferred embodiment of our invention, it will be understood that the latter may be embodied otherwise than as herein specifically illustrated or described and that in the illustrated embodiment certain changes in the details of construction and in the arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the underlying idea or principle of the invention within the scope of the appended claims.

What we claim is:

1. A shaving head for mounting on a housing of a dry shaving apparatus having a recessed portion with an outer rim for supporting said shaving head comprising the lower edge of said shaving head bearing on said outer rim, said shaving head having at least one shear plate, a movable wing stanchion in the recessed portion of said housing, a mounting shaft for an edge of said shaving head and connected to said wing stanchion, means for pivotally mounting said shaft and being located in the interior of said housing, a spring engaging said wing stanchion and adapted to displace said wing stanchion and said shaving head a relatively small distance in a direction substantially at right angles to said wing stanchion when said shaving head is moved to its open position.

2. A shaving head for mounting on a housing of a dry shaving apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said spring exerts a pressure on said wing in a direction away from the adjacent housing wall and furthermore comprising a catch on the opposite, inner side of said shaving head from said mounting shaft for holding said shaving head in its closed position.

3. A shaving head for mounting on a housing of a dry shaving apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein said spring is further provided with a bracket-shaped end portion surrounding at least part of said wing, the latter being removable from said spring.

4. A shaving head for mounting on a housing of a dry shaving apparatus having a recessed portion with an outer rim for supporting said shaving head comprising at least one shear plate in said shaving head, an upstanding wall in said housing located in the space directly beneath said shaving head and spaced from the wall of said housing, a wing stanchion in the space between said upstanding wall and the adjacent wall of said housing, a mounting shaft for an edge of said shaving head and connected to said wing stanchion to permit said shaving head to pivot from a closed to an open position, means for pivotally mounting said shaft and being located in the interior of said housing including a movable Wing stanchion, a pring gaging said wing stanchion and adapted to displace said wing stanchion and said shaving head a relatively small distance in a direction substantially at right angles to said shaft when said shaving head is moved to its pen p s tion, said wing stanchion moving to an abutting position against the surface of one side of said upstanding wall upon the movement of said shaving head to its open position.

5. A shaving head for mounting on a housing of a dry shaving apparatus as claimed in claim 11 wherein said wing stanchion is displaceable in a vertical direction and further comprises a spring engaging one end of said wing stanchion to normally hold said wing stanchion against movement, and said spring exerting a pressure on said wing stanchion which is opposite to the direction of displacement of the latter.

6. A shaving head for mounting on a housing of a dry shaving apparatus having a recessed portion with an outer rim for supporting said shaving head comprising the lower edge of said shaving head bearing on the outer rim of the part of the housing that supports said shaving head, a wing stanchion in said housing, said shaving head having at least one shear plate, a mounting shaft for an edge of said shaving head means and connected to said wing stanchion for pivotally mounting said shaving head and being located in the interior of said housing, a spring engaging said wing stanchion and adapted to displace said shaving head a relatively small distance in a direction substantially at right angles to said shaft when said shaving head is moved to its open position, a shoulder on said shaving head located approximately opposite to said pivot end of said mounting shaft, said shoulder being a projection means on said housing upon which said shaving head is latched to said housing, and means for releasing said shaving head from said housing.

'7. A shaving head for mounting on a housing of a dry shaving apparatus as claimed in claim 6 wherein said latching means is a bracket-shaped spring which in the locked position thereof grips an oblique face of said projection.

8. A shaving head for mounting on a housing of a dry shaving apparatus comprising a projection on said shaving head, a spring latching means which in the locked position thereof grips an oblique face of said projection, means for releasing said shaving head from said housing being a push button, said push button having a forkedshaped end, said spring being engaged by said forkedshaped end of said push button; said fork-shaped end having an ascending face corresponding with the oblique face on the lower side of said projection, said faces, when said push button is in contact with said spring, being spaced apart from each other by such a distance that they are operative in opposite directions, after said spring has been urged away from said projection.

References Cited by the Examiner L UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,796,983 3/1931 Denton 24-97 2,379,969 7/1945 Kobler et al. 30-41.6 3,032,873 5/1962 Vacs 3043.6

WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner.

MYRON C. KRUSE, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A SHAVING HEAD FOR MOUNTING ON A HOUSING OF A DRY SHAVING APPARATUS HAVING A RECCESSED PORTION WITH AN OUTER RIM FOR SUPPORTING AND SHAVING HEAD COMPRISING THE LOWER EDGE OF SAID SHAVING HEAD BEARING ON SAID OUTER RIM, SAID SHAVING HEAD HAVING AT LEAST ONE SHEAR PLATE, A MOVABLE WING STANCHION IN THE RECESSED PORTION OF SAID HOUSING, A MOUNTING SHAFT FOR AN EDGE OF SAID SHAVING HEAD AND CONNECTED TO SAID WING STANCHION, MEANS FOR PIVOTALLY MOUNTING SAID SHAFT AND BEING LOCATED IN THE INTERIOR OF SAID HOUSING, A SPRING ENGAGING SAID WING STANCHION AND ADAPTED TO DISPLACE SAID WING STANCHION AND SAID SHAVING HEAD A RELATIVELY SMALL DISTANCE IN A DIRECTION SUBSTANTIALLY AT RIGHT ANGLES TO SAID WING STANCHION WHEN SAID SHAVING HEAD IS MOVED TO ITS OPEN POSITION. 